


Training Wheels

by meusclues



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, nathanael x marinette, nathanette, no spoiler but there will be kissing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-11
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-06 02:45:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5399957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meusclues/pseuds/meusclues
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nathanael finally works up the courage to give Marinette a gift for the Holidays, and tell her something he's needed to for quite some time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Riding down, riding down

**Author's Note:**

> (ah golly this is really the first fanfic i plan on completing so im a bit nervous on posting it but i hope yall enjoy it, i think nathanael is absolutely adorable and im a bit smitten with him tbh, and as much as i do adore marinette and adrien, this ship deserves some attention as well)

Confessing to a crush was difficult, everyone knew that. The thought of being rejected would flood the minds of plenty of people, nearly everyone who had romantic intentions or feelings.

That's why Nathanael's hands were trembling as he held a small wrapped box, standing by the doorway of Marinette's family's bakery. He had been waiting there in the cold for maybe a good five minutes, just trying to think about what he was going to say to her. Was he being weird? Should he just leave? No, he'd come to this point, he had to try. Well, maybe not.

He just about jumped as the bell chimed, the door flinging open and a petite girl peering up at him, her brows furrowing with concern.

"Nathanael? What are you doing out here? You must be freezing."

His mouth felt dry but he found himself nodding, he hadn't really spoken to her since after the akuma incident when she'd apologized to him. For what? He really had no idea, but his heart warmed at the thought of her being worried about him.

"Come on, I'm sure papa wouldn't mind sparing some warm treats. Jeez, were you out here a while?"

After a moment of just standing there, probably looking pretty funny, his mouth hung open and his shoulders up to his ears, which were a pretty fair match to his hair at the moment, he spoke.

"Actually, um, I wanted to.." He trailed off, glancing down to the gift in his hands, Marinette's following after.

"Oh. Oh, my gosh. That's very kind of you." Marinette seemed a bit lost for words, a grateful smile on her face as she stepped aside. "Thank you so much, but really, we can talk inside, it's so cold out here."

Nathanael allowed himself to nod, moving forward and into the bakery, relief and warmth filling him as the cold was pushed out. She had came up to his side, calling for her father and mother to come greet him.

This had to be a dream. It absolutely had to be. 

Tom and Sabine had given the boy a pretty warm greeting, offering some leftover sweets and hot chocolate, which Marinette had accepted for the both of them before guiding a very flustered Nathanael to her room. Of course, he didn't know that he'd already been here at one point, though using a different entrance.  
As soon as Marinette plopped down onto the cushion seat on her floor, her mother had knocked on the door, bringing them both up a cup of hot chocolate, which Nathanael accepted very gratefully. It was when Nathanael awkwardly sat on her desk chair, thin fingers sliding over the wrapping paper of the gift, watching the girl sip at her drink that he held it out. Marinette had smiled and set her drink down, taking the present and placing it into her lap.

"This is honestly so sweet of you, Nathanael, I wish I had something to give to you."

"It's fine."

He shook his head, cheeks flushed from embarrassment rather than the cold. She took her time opening it, of course she did, she was so patient with things. Her lips parted as she stared at the gift she'd been given, her hand gripping the frame around the picture. He'd drawn and painted her portrait.

"Oh, this is gorgeous, thank you so, so much!"

'Only as much as it's muse.' The thought crossed his mind and he smiled, nodding at her and happily accepting her praise. He'd worked on it for about a week, the sketch being easy, but Nathanael wasn't as skilled a painter as he was when he drew. He knew he did well though, his art was always something he found himself proud of. Especially when the girl he'd hoped would take notice did, Marinette was much too kind and considerate of everyone in their class, she seemed to know at least something about every person in their class, and was always trying to help when something went wrong.  
She was still rambling a bit about the details of the picture, pointing out exactly what she thought the best points were, trying to show him how grateful she was. He knew she was. 

"Um. I had something else, too."

Her spill paused and she shut her mouth, nodding for him to continue.

"I wanted to say something, it's, um, I didn't really know how to befor-"

Of course in the moment he'd gained the confidence to tell her, Alya had decided to stop by, phone in hand and mid sentence about something Ladybug had done the night before. This boy just couldn't get a break, could he? 

Marinette had apologized quite a few times, feeling bad she forgot to mention that Alya and her had plans and asked him to go on. Nathanael just couldn't now, so he gave her nothing more than a goodbye and left, proud of himself for at least giving her the gift.

Now, he just hoped he'd get the chance to tell her some other time.


	2. My hand on your seat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (sorry it's been a bit! I had this done on the 15th but i was too busy to post until today! hope you enjoy it, even tho this babe cant get a romantic word in)

Marinette hadn't gotten his phone number before he left.

She wished she did, this would have been so much easier than having to go through Alya to find Rose, who had to find Juleka, who finally was able to get ahold of Nathanael. Marinette asked Juleka to tell Nathanael to stop by the bakery whenever he could, which when he heard, he got his coat on as quickly as he could and shuffled out of his home in a hurry.

The night that Alya was over, Marinette had worked nearly all night to complete a pair of gloves for him, a nice turquoise pair with white embroidery and her name in gold around the wrist. She'd been so excited to give it to him only to realize that she had no way of contacting him while they were all on winter break. It was a relief when she'd finally been able to ask him over, having gotten an enthusiastic "Yes!"

It seemed like only twenty minutes had passed before he arrived at the bakery, teeth chattering and hands shoved under his coat, politely greeting Marinette's parents. They seemed more than happy in welcoming him, Sabine had called up to Marinette and let her know he was on his way up before heading back to the counter to help customers. Nathanael had made his way up to her room, knocking on the hatch first before she'd opened it up and helped him in, his face flushing when her fingers wrapped around his. Though, she quickly released him to move towards her bed.

"I know maybe this isn't as amazing as the drawing you gave me, but I thought you might need these, because, well, it's cold and I figured if you'd have your hands out, because you like to draw, maybe.. Well, here." Marinette was smiling as she lifted the present off of her desk and brought it to him. The box was small but wrapped neatly, Nathanael hadn't expected this, of all things, but he sure was thankful as he began to unwrap the gift, forgetting his patience and taking the bow off quickly. Inside were the gloves, thoughtfully folded together and he'd felt completely warm at the thought that she made these specifically for him.

"They're wonderful." He told her, taking them right out and trying them on, his slim fingers fit perfectly and although the glove was just a bit short, he didn't complain at all, a smile on her face and the red in his cheeks moving to his ears. "Thank you."

Marinette seemed quite pleased, her eyes scrunched up as she smiled wide, and giving a nod. "Of course! Your gift was so beautiful, I wanted to return the favor."

"Thank you, for that too."

Nathanael had been standing there after a moment, unsure of whether to leave or not, Marinette seemed to catch on when she welcomed him to stay. He'd agreed but took off his coat and gloves hesitantly, and placing them on the coat rack Marinette had in her room before finding his place back at her desk chair, sitting down and waiting for her to speak. He wasn't even sure what to talk about, it just, well, things were awkward for him, he didn't know how to really speak to Marinette or what about, or maybe even telling her how he felt, but could he even get up that courage again? He just wasn't sure right now.

Marinette took the first step, bringing another chair up to her desk and sitting beside him, a smile on her face as she faced the papers on her work space, "Are you okay to stay for a while?"

He nodded, swirling his chair around to face the same surface that she did, but having to sit farther away so his knees didn't hit the front of the desk.

"Would you wanna help me out with some designs? You don't have to, but I thought it might be fun."

"Uh, yeah, it does sound fun. What did you have in mind?"

She pushed forward a few pictures out of the stack, asking to measure him for sizing of the male clothes. Once again, his face had flushed but he agreed, and the two got to work. Nathanael was pretty embarrassed as Marinette stood in front of him, wrapping measuring tape around him, he couldn't help but stare. She was a short girl, standing only at his chest, her eyes were wide and so very blue and incredibly endearing, the way she chewed on her lip and scrunched up her face while she worked was a cute habit of hers too. He wouldn't exactly admit the days he stared at her in class and saw it either, but this was one of the first moments that he got to speak with her one on one.

Though, Marinette had paid close attention to him too, not exactly for the same reasons, but she'd been worried about him after the Evillustrator incident and she wanted to make sure that Nathanael wasn't having any more trouble. She'd found herself giving him more attention after, knowing that he liked her, she wanted to at least lift his spirits if he still had to deal with Chloe.

The two had spent the time with Marinette measuring him and making him try on different articles of clothing but he seemed to be having fun, especially when the two conversed between being poked with needles.

"So, what is your favorite color? I assumed you liked blue, but, I wasn't really sure."

"Yeah, blue is my favorite. You're good at guessing."

Marinette winked before telling him, "Must be my good luck."

Nathanael was sure that he was the lucky one though, even when he had been told by Sabine that it was getting dark and he should get home. Marinette had decided to walk him home, and he found himself worried about her walking back alone, but was sure she would be okay, she always got out of bad situations quickly and skillfully, well, most of them anyway.  
  
"I really do wanna hang out more, if that's okay. I know you're probably busy sometimes but it was super fun hanging out with you." Marinette broke the silence with a big smile on her face, having wanted to become friends with the boy ever since the incident.

"Yeah, that's okay, I, um, I wanted to hang out with you for a while."

"Of course! Is it okay if I save your number?"  
  
He nodded, a warm feeling beginning to spread all through his body as his cheeks turned bright and he watched as she saved his name into her phone, putting a smile by it. That was cute. She was cute. She was really, really cute.

"I'll see you another day then! Maybe you can come with Alya, Nino, Alix, Kim and I? We're all going to walk around and see lights, but Alix and Kim were gonna race too, if you wanna see that again?"  
  
"That sounds really fun, I'd like to, the last race was pretty fun."

She nodded at him as they came to a stop, reaching Nathanael's home. She was about to take off when he asked her to stay a moment, wanting to tell her something.

"Marinette, I really, um, if it's alright or anything, if you and I could possibly go ou-"  
  
Welp. Akuma's just couldn't wait their turn, could they? Just as he was in the middle of finally asking out the love of his teenage life, there was a loud wailing as a young girl had begun to knock down buildings with what looked like a big teddybear, he couldn't catch a break ever.

Marinette, being the sweet girl she was, pushed him inside and told him that she was gonna take off to Alya's since it was closer than her own home and she'd be safe for the night, he had no choice but to let her go in a hurry. Now, if only he had noticed her turn the corner around his building, maybe he'd have gotten a very good look at Ladybug, who'd come running out instead.

He had to plan this out better next time.


End file.
